Pay good wages, don't put down workers

Government (city, county, state, federal) fees, regulations, programs, laws and taxes - not wages - is what keeps small and large businesses from hiring people.

Government officials and government workers vote themselves pay raises and benefits packages without voter approval. They pay for these perks by raising fees and taxes on us out the wazoo.

I worked as a cashier for 25 years, and when I retired, my pay was $12.75 an hour. I chose to stay at that job because I come from a generation that needed money, and the type of job didn't matter, and if I chose to stick with it, that was my choice. Isn't that what freedom and America is all about?

So stop putting down burger flippers, cooks, dishwashers, bus boys and girls, wait staff and janitors and pay a liveable wage ($9 to $15 an hour) to people who choose to stay with a job they started with.